Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the public health crisis and the economic crisis that are happening right now are not happening in a vacuum. All the damage caused by the coronavirus and the President's failures is layered on top of all the existing problems of our country, including the crisis we have been facing for years in the multiemployer pension system. More than a million American workers and retirees were already in danger of losing the retirement security that they earned. These are people who did everything right. They spent years working on assembly lines, bagging groceries, driving trucks, working hard to keep this economy going and to provide for their families. Money came out of every single one of their paychecks to pay into a pension system. People in Washington don't understand the collective bargaining process. They either don't understand it or don't care to understand it. People give up dollars today at the bargaining table for the promise of a secure retirement, with healthcare and a pension. This crisis affects thousands of Ohioans and people in Indiana, the Presiding Officer's State. It affects the massive Central States Pension Plan, the Bricklayers Local 7, the Ironworkers Local 17, the Ohio Southwest Carpenters Pension Plan, the Bakers and Confectioners Pension Plan, and on and on and on. It touches every single State in the country. We are talking about our entire multiemployer pension system. If it collapses, it will not just be retirees who feel the pain.…”